A Flag to Follow

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Some things can never be repeated enough. Especially with small children.

No, we cannot lick our friends.

Let’s make something with playdoh instead of throwing it across the room.

Maybe we should keep our feet on the floor instead of climbing on the table.

Why are we yelling?

Every. Single. Day. Over and over and over, children have to be asked and reminded the exact same things.

That’s why there are many repeated phrases in the Bible. Because God is trying to get something into the heads of us – His children. There are things He wants to sink deep down in our hearts. And so He has to repeat, repeat, repeat.

In Haggai, there is a short but impactful phrase that God repeats. “Consider your ways.” 

Think about your life.

I don’t think there is a whole lot of considering of ways going on with us today. There is a lot of considering of football. Considering of Taylor Swift. Considering of money. Considering of TikTok.

But there is not a lot of considering your ways.

And this little phrase was a challenge to me today. A challenge to stop and think about my life. What direction am I going? Is what I’m doing worth it? 

Haggai 1:4, 5 – “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”

The context of “Consider your ways” in Haggai is that everyone was so concerned about their own houses that God’s house was lying in ruins. Am I so concerned about myself and my comfort that I forget to invest in eternity? Do I neglect God’s house, God’s people, or God’s mission because I’m too worried about me? I don’t want my time, effort and thoughts to be about myself. I want them to be centered on something bigger that I get to be a part of – God’s plan.

So my challenge is simple. I couldn’t put it any better than the way God already said it: consider your ways.

Consider your ways.

Consider your ways.